Donate Life Northwest

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930867552
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5034947888
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Organ and Tissue Banks

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$908,486
Expenses
$645,343
Assets
$1,544,344
Liabilities
$68,573

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY JANE HUNT (INTERIM EXEC): $92,017 total reported compensation
  • LAURA ELLSWORTH (EXECUTIVE DI): $49,638 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Donate life northwest's mission is to save lives and improve health through the promotion of organ, eye, and tissue donation. Since 1975, donate life northwest (dlnw) has aligned and supported collaborative partnerships with organ, eye, and tissue donation agencies, transplant centers, and educators. Recognized nationally for the achievement of registering more than 2.5 million of Oregon's licensed drivers, program efforts focus on educating and motivating citizens of Oregon and sw Washington through our volunteers, high school and college outreach, social media, community organizations and department of motor vehicles to make, register, and share their donation decision.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community engagement: builds community and support among donor families, living donors, transplant recipients, people on the waitlist, and donation supporters through events, media resources, volunteer opportunities, networking, and mentoring in order to promote organ, eye, and tissue donation. Collaborates with businesses, faith communities, civic and community organizations, and others to provide thoughtful, educational, and culturally- and linguistically-specific outreach to the public. Community engagement resources can be found on donatelifenw.org and on facebook, instagram, and other social media outlets. In fy25, we reached nearly 10,000 people through 149 different community engagement events and activities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.6%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.39; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.6% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $480K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $92K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.